The Fool's Gold
There are many people in the world that work very hard for a goal or to fulfill a dream, Robert however was not one of them. He started working at UPS after he graduated high school. His first job was sorting boxes for the company. It goes without saying that this was a monotonous job without much stimulation. Robert worked in this department until he reached the age when he was allowed to drive a delivery truck to deliver packages. This has been Robert’s job ever since.
When Robert is not working he is usually watching TV in his humble living room, well “his” is not exactly true. Robert lives with his twenty-four year old daughter and her husband. Sally, Robert's daughter, has always taken care of her father and will continue to do so probably for the rest of his life, as there is little hope for Robert being completely self sufficient. He is a kind old man but does not really know how to take care of a house and has no wife to help him.
One afternoon Robert was delivering packages and thought that it would be amusing to not look at the address on the packages. He would pull up to a house and just grab any package and drop it off. Robert continued this for a few weeks, he found it much more fun than before because there was some mystery behind his job rather than shear monotony.
After about two weeks of random delivery a man was standing outside of his house staring at Robert as he brought a package to the neighbors' house. Robert felt his heart pounding as he walked by knowing that he was doing something wrong but continued walking.
The next day when he came to deliver on the same street the same man was standing outside his house. This time Robert was even more nervous. As Robert walked past the front gate the man stopped him.
He said, "Excuse me, sir, but I was just wondering if you were the man that brought the small white package with no label on it to my house last week."
Robert looked around briefly and then said in a hesitant voice, “Yes, it was me. I deliver all the packages to this street.”
The man's face lit up. He seemed as though he was in utter shock. His voice grew very quiet, almost to a whisper, and he said, “You are the man that saved my life.”
Robert was taken aback by the statement and had no idea what the man was talking about. He asked Robert if he knew what was actually in the package that was delivered and Robert of course did not.
The man told Robert that he delivered to his house a package with a college scholarship in it. The man could not have been happier as it allowed him to send his daughter to college, something that he never thought that he could do. This was the proudest moment of the man's life.
Robert did not really know what to say as he knew that it was the wrong house that it was delivered to but could not bring himself to tell the proud man. Robert left that day feeling as though he had done something good. Even though it was not necessarily the right thing to do he had saved a man's life and given his daughter a chance to be successful when she may have never had that chance before.
There are many people in the world that work very hard for a goal or to fulfill a dream, Robert however was not one of them. He started working at UPS after he graduated high school. His first job was sorting boxes for the company. It goes without saying that this was a monotonous job without much stimulation. Robert worked in this department until he reached the age when he was allowed to drive a delivery truck to deliver packages. This has been Robert’s job ever since.
When Robert is not working he is usually watching TV in his humble living room, well “his” is not exactly true. Robert lives with his twenty-four year old daughter and her husband. Sally, Robert's daughter, has always taken care of her father and will continue to do so probably for the rest of his life, as there is little hope for Robert being completely self sufficient. He is a kind old man but does not really know how to take care of a house and has no wife to help him.
One afternoon Robert was delivering packages and thought that it would be amusing to not look at the address on the packages. He would pull up to a house and just grab any package and drop it off. Robert continued this for a few weeks, he found it much more fun than before because there was some mystery behind his job rather than shear monotony.
After about two weeks of random delivery a man was standing outside of his house staring at Robert as he brought a package to the neighbors' house. Robert felt his heart pounding as he walked by knowing that he was doing something wrong but continued walking.
The next day when he came to deliver on the same street the same man was standing outside his house. This time Robert was even more nervous. As Robert walked past the front gate the man stopped him.
He said, "Excuse me, sir, but I was just wondering if you were the man that brought the small white package with no label on it to my house last week."
Robert looked around briefly and then said in a hesitant voice, “Yes, it was me. I deliver all the packages to this street.”
The man's face lit up. He seemed as though he was in utter shock. His voice grew very quiet, almost to a whisper, and he said, “You are the man that saved my life.”
Robert was taken aback by the statement and had no idea what the man was talking about. He asked Robert if he knew what was actually in the package that was delivered and Robert of course did not.
The man told Robert that he delivered to his house a package with a college scholarship in it. The man could not have been happier as it allowed him to send his daughter to college, something that he never thought that he could do. This was the proudest moment of the man's life.
Robert did not really know what to say as he knew that it was the wrong house that it was delivered to but could not bring himself to tell the proud man. Robert left that day feeling as though he had done something good. Even though it was not necessarily the right thing to do he had saved a man's life and given his daughter a chance to be successful when she may have never had that chance before.